The Shifting Earth
by LightSpiral
Summary: A retelling of Naruto Shippuden from Deidara's perspective wherein he confronts past allies after surviving his battle with Sasuke Uchiha. Sasori also lives through his battle with Chiyo and accompanies him. THIS IS NOT A DEIDARA/SASORI SHIPPING. The romance is between Deidara and Kurotsuchi. This story is rated M because of Hidan, language, violence, and possible sex scenes.
1. Chapter 1: Deidara

The moon illuminated the boy's frozen breath as he concealed his presence behind a snow-covered tree. His wireless radio was silent, which put the boy's nerves on high alert. His team was supposed to be in contact with each other 24/7. The fact that the radio was silent meant that they had either been captured, or were too close to the enemy, two very unfavorable situations. The boy growled under his breath and continued on his way by maneuvering through the forest's canopy. Deidara was very young for his occupation at eleven years old. His long blond hair was tied into a ponytail, with one long bang hanging in front of his left eye. He wore his Stone Village headband proudly on his forehead. His team were considered natural geniuses, having some of the best records in ninja history, only being eclipsed by the legendary Sasori of the Red Sand, who had made Jonin, Deidara's current rank, at the age of ten.

"_Deidara nii-san! Do you copy?" _Deidara's heart filled with relief as he heard his comrade's voice through his earpiece.

"Kurotsuchi? Where are you guys?" questioned Deidara. "I've been looking all over for you, hmm!"

"_I'm sorry. We were dangerously close to the enemy. I was separated from Akatsuchi..._"_  
_

"Where are you now? What's your position?"

"_About ten meters west from the Landmark Tree. Please hurry!_" Deidara quickened his pace towards his comrade's position. He began to unwrap the bandages on his hands on the way. He knew what to look for: Kurotsuchi had short black hair, and pale pink eyes. She had a paler complexion than Deidara's, and always wore the basic Jonin attire for the stone village with her right sleeve missing. Akatsuchi was a rather chubby fellow with a large nose. His spiked black hair was usually covered by a bandana, and he wore the basic Stone ninja attire as well. Deidara knew that he could find them easily. _That's the Landmark Tree, _thought Deidara as he passed an oak tree larger than the rest in the forest. _Almost there, hmm!_

A rough hand seized Kurotsuchi's hair after she cut her transmission. Akatsuchi tried to help her, but was held back by two other ninja. Emblazoned on their headbands was the symbol of Kirigakure, the Blood Mist.

"Nice work, girly. He's bound to come running."

"D-damn you..." muttered the captive girl. The remark was met with a hard punch to her face. She let out a small cry of pain and fell on her back.

"Didn't your daddy ever teach you not to insult the big, scary guys?" asked the assailant in a mocking tone. Kurotsuchi felt tears well up inside her eyes, but she wouldn't show these thugs any weakness.

"Th-that all you got..?" Another blow was delivered, followed by another and another.

"Learn your place, you little bitch!" Kurotsuchi could feel herself losing consciousness when she caught sight of a boy with blond hair in the trees. _Deidara... nii-san... _thought Kurotsuchi before her consciousness faded.

The sight before Deidara made his blood boil. His two dearest friends were held captive by the Mist ninja they were sent to deal with. He thrust his hands into the large sacks at his hips. He could feel the moist clay being devoured and molded by the mouths on his hands. His unique Kekkei Genki would be his best bet right now.

"Hey," called out the boy. "Is picking on girls all you're good at, hmm?!"

"He's here," remarked the ninja who had assaulted Kurotsuchi. "Get him! The Mizukage wants that boy alive!" Deidara smirked at his two assailants as one of their fists broke through his chest. The boy lost all color, becoming a white blob, barely similar in appearance to Deidara. The ninja's hand was stuck in the clay, which did not release its hold, no matter how hard he tried. Deidara smiled at their incompetency as he weaved his hand sign.

"Ha!" The clay shape swelled until it burst, killing the attacking shinobi within seconds.

"What the hell?!" shouted the second ninja. "He exploded?!"  
"Stay on your toes!" Commanded Kurotsuchi's assailant, obviously the one in command. "It was just a clone made of clay. Stay away from that stuff." Deidara made a silent signal to Akatsuchi. The boy nodded and began to charge his chakra. Within moments, a form made of stone began to emerge from Akatsuchi's mouth.

"Idiot!" screamed the commander. "You let the boy perform his jutsu!" The ninja moved to stop Akatsuchi, but Deidara blocked their path with spiders made of his detonating clay. "Damn..." Deidara's make-shift mine field allowed Akatsuchi enough time to create his golem, a humanoid structure of stone towering above the Mist Jonin. The titan threw a fist of stone at the shinobi, shattering the chest of the unfortunate victim, leaving only the one in charge.

"Grab Kurotsuchi and get back to the village," commanded Deidara. "I'll show this amateur my art's perfection, hmm!" From Deidara's (rather grotesque) hands erupted two snakes made of his exploding clay. The ninja nimbly avoided Deidara's strikes and drew a katana from his back. Akatsuchi quickly grabbed Kurotsuchi and left towards the village with her on his back. The mist ninja growled to himself, and turned his gaze back at Deidara.

"You seem to like ranged combat. Let's see how you deal with a foe at close quarters!" the ninja leapt at Deidara, bracing his blade for a slash. Deidara quickly molded an owl out of clay and leapt off the branch, landing on the now-mobile creature. He took off into the air, laughing all the while.

"You'll have to catch me first, hmm!"

"No need," the ninja replied as he weaved several hand signs. "Water Style: Water Trumpet!" From the foe's mouth erupted a stream of water that broke through the owl's wing. The impact caused Deidara to lose his balance and fall.

"Shit," muttered Deidara. "I was careless." The mouths on Deidara's hands began to gather a large amount of clay. They molded it into a large winged shape, a dragon. Deidara quickly weaved the hand sign, and the beast took to life. The mist ninja could only stare in awe and terror.

"What the hell..?"

"Well?! Are you impressed?! Has my art blown you away? This is my legendary C2 Dragon!" Deidara transferred chakra into the beast's neck, causing it to extend at a rapid pace, biting the ninja's waste faster than he could react. "Got ya!"

Several hours later, Deidara stood before the now imprisoned Mist shinobi in Iwagakure(the Hidden Stone)'s holding cell. The man had been stubborn since he had been captured, and hadn't released any information.

"Just give it up, Nii-san," sighed Kurotsuchi. "He's not going to give us any information."

"I can't just give up," replied Deidara, who had lost patience a long time ago. "If this guy knew about my jutsu, the Mist could be planning something big. Why the hell else would they travel such a long distance?" The imprisoned ninja began to chuckle to himself(it was the most they'd gotten out of him all day).

"What's so funny?" inquired Kurotsuchi. "You're not really in a position to laugh!"

"Did you forget we were Jonin? You can't have expected us to not have a backup plan."

"What do you..?" began Deidara, but his sentence was cut off as the Stone ANBU guarding the prisoner removed their masks, revealing Mist headbands. More Mist ninja broke down the door and surrounded the pair. Deidara could tell that Stone ninja wouldn't come in time. He'd have to protect Kurotsuchi himself.

"N-Nii-san, what do we do?" asked Kurotsuchi.

"Stay calm," responded Deidara. "I'll think of something." For all his reassurance, Deidara didn't have much of an idea himself. He couldn't use his explosion style indoors, and there were too many to defeat without it. The ninja began to strike at the partners with kunai and katanas. Deidara and Kurotsuchi deflected them for as long as possible, but the overwhelming odds soon caught up with them. Deidara eventually found himself on the ground under a ninja's boot, and Kurotsuchi was being restrained by more mist ninja. The shinobi took the key from Deidara's belt and unlocked the door, allowing their comrade to escape.

"Hey boss," spoke a ninja. "Why don't we take the girl with us? She could always be used for ransom. Besides..." The ninja licked Kurotsuchi's cheek with a wicked grin on his face. "I haven't had a toy in so long." Kurotsuchi began to shake, her fear obvious to Deidara.

"Leave her alone!" Deidara shouted. Deidara frantically tried to come up with a plan. He knew his C1 would do no good against this number of opponents, and his C2 Dragon was too large to use in the building.

"Hey, let us in too, Daisuke!" Mused other members. "It's been a long time."

"Aw, look. She's crying." Mocked another as tears streamed down Kurotsuchi's face. Something within Deidara snapped. He would not let her be harmed by these scumbags. He thrust his hands into his sacks and absorbed as much clay as he could.

"Get... get away..." whimpered Kurotsuchi. "P-please..."

"GET LOST!" screamed Deidara as he tossed a clay sculpture into the air. He hadn't focused on design, but he knew it would cause serious damage. The ninja moved to brace themselves, giving Deidara a chance to move to Kurotsuchi's side. It all happened in an instant. The clay blob shattered as energy poured forth. Deidara hugged Kurotsuchi close to him and shielded her from the impact. He felt the intense heat and pressure from the resulting explosion. Debris from the destroyed roof and walls rained on him. The pain was unbearable. Deidara's consciousness slipped away from him.

"Ohhh..." marveled Black Zetsu, a form more similar to a silhouette with spiky hair, as he observed the spectacle. He moved over to an unconscious Mist ninja, the very one that had been imprisoned. The ninja's eyes snapped open, and he delivered a wicked grin. All color faded from him, as he took a form similar to the black figure, only this one was white.

"Tobi was right," speculated White Zetsu in a harmonious voice that greatly contrasted Black Zetsu's. "He was an excellent candidate. Where did he go?"

"He ran off a while ago," replied Black Zetsu. "I sent Itachi, Sasori, and Kisame to retrieve him. I expect that you ate the other corpses by now."

"Of course. Tobi wanted this to all look like a random act of terrorism. Shall we return?"

"We shall." The two forms sickeningly merged together and sank into the ground to return to their master.

Eight years later, Deidara laughed to himself as he thought back to his time in Iwagakure. His destruction of that building was seen by the Tsuchikage as an act of terrorism, and Deidara was labeled a rogue ninja. The Akatsuki found him soon after, and recruited him for their cause: to hunt Jinchuriki, ninjas with the Legendary Tailed Beasts sealed within. Deidara found himself enjoying his new life. He was allowed to show his art with no regard for anyone's life but his own. Now, however, was a different matter. Deidara's partner, Sasori, was missing. Deidara could tell that Sasori's endeavor was quite the battle; the cave they had been in was in pieces. Shattered puppets were scattered among the debris, and his famed Hiruko lay broken and useless in the debris. It was clear that Sasori had lost. Even so, Deidara had to find a body, at the very least. It did not take him long to locate Sasori's "body." A crimson haired mannequin stood in the center of the rubble, pierced by another crimson haired puppet, and a brown haired puppet that resembled a woman.

"Damn, my man..." Deidara sighed. "I thought you wouldn't let the old bat get the best of you..." He approached the mannequin and reached for the core of the puppet, the only "human" part of Sasori left. The core, however, was gone. Deidara searched the debris around the puppets when he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. A teenage boy approached Deidara cloaked in the Akatsuki robe, a black coat with red clouds emblazoned on it. His gaze was emotionless, and his wide brown eyes were framed by his curly red hair.

"What took you?" asked Sasori in his signature calm and melodious voice. "You know I hate waiting."

"How the hell are you alive?" asked Deidara, still in shock. "Hiruko's in pieces and your body's right there." Sasori scoffed at Deidara's remark.

"Do you take me for a fool?" asked Sasori, coldly. "I had a contingency planned just for this occasion, and besides, why would I waste Hiruko on Konoha trash?" The boy reaches down and rolled up a scroll of summoning. "I keep spare puppets in these scrolls. They activate automatically should my body fail me." Deidara couldn't help but be impressed by his cohort. As far as he could tell, this was all but a game to him. The boy unrolled another scroll and placed his palm in the center. With a poof and a puff of smoke, a large puppet appeared before them. It was humanoid, but only barely. It stood on all fours, and had a demon mask welded into it's back. From the mask's mouth sprouted a large mechanical scorpion tail. "I used a wooden copy in that fight," Sasori explained as he climbed into his true Hiruko without a moment's hesitation. "Let's go." he declared in a much hoarser voice than before.

"By the way," Deidara began. "How the hell did they defeat you?" Sasori scoffed again.

"You honestly think I tried? I was told to scout out the power of each ninja that arrived. Since you led the Nine-Tails and Hatake off, I was left with Grandmother and the pink one. My duty to observe was far more important than victory."

"Now that sounds like you," Deidara mused. The pair re-adorned their wide brimmed hats and began their trek back to their headquarters, satisfied by their achievements.


	2. Chapter 2: The Tenchi Bridge

Kurotsuchi closed the door to her room, stripped into her underclothes, and collapsed onto her bed. She felt mentally exhausted, more so than usual. For eight straight years, she had been acting cheerful around the village, like nothing had happened that day. In truth, her heart ached. It longed for her brother(in title only) to return to her side. This feeling made Kurotsuchi sick to her stomach. Even Akatsuchi had put the past behind him, so why couldn't she? Kurotsuchi was surprised to find herself crying again. She knew that she shouldn't be. She was the Tsuchikage's granddaughter. She shouldn't cry for rogue ninja. In truth, her mask was becoming tedious. She wanted to tell someone, anyone who would listen, but she knew it was only a fairy tail. The Old Fence Sitter was too damned stubborn for his own good, as was her father, and Akatsuchi would only tell the Tsuchikage, like a good little lap dog. Kurotsuchi really hated that about him. He was loyal to a fault.

"Kurotsuchi?" spoke a gruff, old voice behind her door. Looked like the old fart had come to speak with her after all.

"W-what is it?" she asked in her cheerful facade, wiping the tears from her eyes and covering herself with her covers. "Come in!" The door opened to reveal the Tsuchikage, Onoki the Old Fence Sitter and the head of authority for Iwagakure, levitating a good two feet off the ground to compensate for his stature. He was incredibly short, maybe three feet tall. He had a large red nose that was strikingly similar to Akatsuchi's. He wore a green and yellow coat over the standard Iwagakure ninja attire(although it was shrunken significantly for his size). His wide-brimmed brown and white hat symbolizing his authority rested on his head.

"I just came to see how you were doing. It is the anniversary of Deidara's betrayal, after all. We're all worried about you."

"Oh yeah..." Kurotsuchi now understood why she was so exhausted. She must have realized the date subconsciously. She never liked to think about it on purpose. "I'm okay, gramps. I don't mourn those who betray our village."

"I'm glad to hear it. Good night."

"G'night." After her reply, Onoki closed the door, leaving Kurotsuchi in the darkness. She hugged her knees to her chest and sobbed softly in the darkness. Sometime during her misery, she had fallen asleep. She dreamed of the life she spent with her nii-san. She remembered how they both trained under Onoki, how they'd always played and sparred with each other. In her dreams, she was smiling genuinely, something she never did anymore.

"Kurotsuchi!" Akatsuchi burst into Kurotsuchi's room, alarmed and excited. Kurotsuchi jumped to her feet in shock.

"What?! What is it?!"

"It's Deidara! The Sand village said they spotted him! They-" Akatsuchi's sentence was cut short as the sight before him registered in his mind. He began to blush. Kurotsuchi then realized she was still only in her underwear.

"AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She screamed. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET _OUT_!" With every "OUT," Kurotsuchi threw a random object from her room. Akatsuchi finally scurried out of the room when he was hit by her bedside table.

Kurotsuchi grumpily joined her grandfather and Akatsuchi in the meeting hall. Akatsuchi never met her gaze.

"Our information has revealed," the Tsuchikage began, "Deidara was responsible for kidnapping the Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand: Gaara of the Desert."

"He kidnapped the Kazekage?!" asked Akatsuchi, stunned. "Why?"

"The Kazekage is the Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed beast." answered the Tsuchikage. "The Akatsuki are targeting them."

"Then what do we do?" asked Kurotsuchi.

"We're going after him." replied the old man. "He's been sighted heading towards the Tenchi Bridge. We move immediately."

"Yes sir!" the two jonin replied in unison. Feelings swirled within Kurotsuchi. Among them was hope. Hope that she could finally see her nii-san again, but with hope came despair. They might have to fight him, a thought that tore Kurotsuchi up inside.

"Why the hell are we heading this way?" groaned Deidara. "The hideout's the OTHER way."

"I have a spy working for Orochimaru," replied Sasori in an irritated tone. He spoke slowly, as if he thought Deidara was too dense to understand. "I'm meeting him at the Tenchi Bridge to exchange information, and I hate to keep people waiting. We're late as it is. Besides..." Deidara began to detect a tone of amusement from his partner. "I slipped the Nine-Tails' friend some information about it, setting up the perfect opportunity for us to grab him."

Deidara and Sasori silently entered the forest in front of the Tenchi Bridge.

"Be sure to circle around." whispered Sasori. "You never know who could be waiting, and I don't want to run into the Jinchuriki too early." The pair reached the edge of the forest and was about to step onto the bridge when something caught Deidara's attention.

"Ah, I see. You're controlling Hiruko from here to keep yourself out of harm's way?" he asked his partner.

"No..." replied Sasori. "I only had one spare Hiruko, and please look to your left." Deidara turned his head towards his partner. "I'm still in it." Deidara mentally face-palmed.

"Then who the hell is that?" Sasori raised his hand, a signal that told Deidara to shut up. On the bridge, the "Hiruko" was approaching a man in a blue hooded robe. Deidara couldn't make out his face at all, but could tell he was Sasori's contact. The scene that played out before him was unexpected and chaotic. It began with the appearance of Orochimaru, the mysterious and, admittedly terrifying, leader of the Sound Village. He had been an Akatsuki member, but left before Deidara was recruited. His ebony hair, which contrasted against his chalk-white skin, blew intimidatingly in the breeze.

Next, Sasori's contact cut apart the "Hiruko" with a blade made of chakra, revealing a man with spiked brown hair garbed in the usual Konoha ninja outfit, a green vest over black pants. Once his cover was blown, three other Leaf ninja leapt to his assistance. One was wearing a bright orange and black jacket, with blond spiky hair. Deidara couldn't understand how the hell this kid could call himself a ninja with such a ridiculous outfit. He knew this kid personally after he tried to kill him: Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki. Next to him was a girl with bright pink hair wearing a red sleeveless shirt and what resembled black bike shorts. He couldn't remember her name, but he knew she was the "pink one" Sasori had referred to earlier. The third kid was a mystery, much like the man in the Hiruko copy. He had black straight hair, a miraculous change from the ridiculous hairdos of the other Leaf ninja he had seen before. His shirt revealed his midriff, and his skin was incredibly pale, almost as white as Orochimaru's.

"This is getting interesting..." muttered Deidara. "What do we do, my man?"

"We wait." replied Sasori. Deidara returned his attention to the confrontation below. Their conversation had (not to Deidara's surprise) made the nine-tails brat angry at the pair before him. Red chakra began to leak out of the boy, forming a cloak in the shape of a fox. Once the cloak obtained four tails, it completely consumed him, turning him into a monstrous red blur of murderous intent. Deidara had seen a reaction like this before. Jinchuriki tended to do that when they got angry. In a flash, the jinchuriki and Orochimaru took their fight to the other side of the ravine.

"Not to interrupt, gramps," spoke Kurotsuchi, "but how are we going to find nii- er, Deidara?"

"He was stated to be within this area." replied Onoki. "Scouts from Sand and Leaf are what offer the eye reports. Perhaps we should scatter and cover more ground." At that moment, a large red flash exploded from a forest not too far from the team's position.

"Or maybe he's over there." stated Akatsuchi.

"It's worth a shot." said Onoki. "Let's go!"

After a few minutes, Sasori gave Deidara the all-clear. "The danger has passed." remarked Sasori. "We move now."

"Alright my ma-" a large force impacted Deidara, knocking him into the ravine. _Shit! _thought Deidara. _We were followed?! _Deidara quickly molded an owl and activated it, taking him into the air. He hovered above the ravine, facing his old mentor: Onoki, the 3rd Tsuchikage. Once their gazes met, sparks immediately flew. "The hell are you doing here, old man?"

"We acquired information on your whereabouts from Sand and Leaf," replied Onoki. "You certainly run away a lot, don't you, coward?" Deidara could feel the flames of hate ignite within him.

"I never expected to meet you here, gramps!" replied Deidara. "I thought you'd sit on your ass, nice and cozy, while other people did your dirty work, hmm!"

"There's another thing I can't stand about you," snarled Onoki. "Your damned verbal tick. I, as your former sensei, am dragging you back to the Stone village. Now."

"You can try, old fart." Deidara threw his clay bird he had been molding during their conversation at his former mentor. "Ha!" The bird exploded in a shower of flames and clay. When the smoke cleared, a stone golem was shielding Onoki from the attack.

"Close, but no cigar." remarked Onoki.

"So, you're using my old team against me, Fence Sitter?" asked Deidara. "You sure know where to hit low, hmm." A shadow appeared behind Deidara. Akatsuchi's golems could move incredibly fast for their incredible bulk. Deidara swiftly leaped off his sculpture and detonated it, destroying the golem. From above, the Tsuchikage rushed down at him, cloaking his fist in stone. His punch landed before Deidara could mold another sculpture. The blow knocked the wind out of Deidara's lungs. His fall gave him enough time to recover and form another bird. He landed on it, inches from the water below. "This is gonna be tougher than I thought..." growled Deidara.

Sasori simply looked on as his partner was knocked into the ravine. Knowing that he could handle himself, Sasori walked into the open. Before the jonin or black-haired boy could react, Hiruko's scorpion tail slammed into their chests. The impact forced them into nearby rocks. Sasori let a smile form on his lips as the pink girl stared at him in horror. As much as he wanted to crush her, Sasori was far more displeased with his former associate. He simply walked past the girl and approached the terrified, bespeckled boy.

"Kabuto Yakushi..." spoke Sasori, not once letting any emotion slip into his voice. "You can imagine that I am displeased."

"N-no, lord Sasori," protested the boy, pathetically. "It's not what it looked like! I knew it was a fake. I only wanted to ensure Orochimaru's trust."

"I see." reassured Sasori. "Then give me the information you've gathered. Quickly."

"R-right!" Kabuto grinned at his rouse's evident success. "Orochimaru is planning on using Sasuke Uchiha, a rogue ninja from Konoha, as his next vessel. He's growing stronger with each passing day, and Orochimaru believes that he is the finest vessel that he can acquire." Sasori only nodded, taking in the information.

"So his body's on the verge of decaying?" asked Sasori. Kabuto nodded. "My thanks." Hiruko's tail, in a flash, was before Kabuto's neck. "Now you may die, traitor."

"Wh-what do you mean, Lord Sasori?!"

"You could not have known it was a fake that stepped onto the bridge. You intended to kill me."

"Of course I knew!" reassured Kabuto. "I can easily tell the real you apart from fakes."

"Can you?" With that, Sasori opened the hatch on Hiruko's back and stepped out. Kabuto's face turned pale as he realized that no words could save him now. "Can you really?" Sasori asked again with a psychotic grin. He adopted a fighting stance.

"No, please!" cried Kabuto. "Give me another chance!"

"No." replied Sasori, disgusted. "You're constantly late. I hate waiting."

Deidara swiftly dodged the attacks Onoki sent his way. He was beginning to tire, but showed no signs of giving up. If he let up for even a moment, he was done for.

"It's time for me to get serious!" shouted Deidara. He leapt off his owl and detonated it near the Tsuchikage. The geezer(of course) managed to avoid it, but the distraction allowed Deidara enough time to mold his C2. "Observe my true art, old man! Hmm!" With a flourish, Deidara activated his creation, landing on the gargantuan dragon's back. The trees around him shuffled with each beat of C2's wings.

"It's bigger than before..." marveled Onoki. Deidara grinned as part of the dragon's tail was absorbed by the creation. From C2's mouth launched two other dragons. The floating old man could barely dodge the explosions in time. As the old man neared a wall, a clay clone wrapped around him. "What the hell?!"

"You honestly thought all those wasted creations were for show?" asked Deidara. "Their main purpose was to spread enough clay to create clay clones." It registered to Onoki that he hadn't received support from Akatsuchi in a while.

"Akatsuchi! I need assistance!"

"You won't be getting any, old man." From within the cliffside emerged a clay clone, covering Akatsuchi's mouth and keeping him bound. "I know how to beat them, _sensei._" Deidara spat the word "sensei" at Onoki. "It wasn't your best idea to bring him along." Deidara quickly weaved the handsigns to detonate the clay. "See you in the next world, old man!"

"Lava Style: Quicklime Congealing Jutsu!" A blob of liquid stone destroyed C2's wing, causing it to plummet towards the river below. Another blob impacted the falling Deidara in the chest, forcing him to the cliffside. The substance immediately solidified, keeping Deidara in place. Deidara should've figured she'd be here.

"Nice shot, Kurotsuchi..." growled Deidara.

"You're coming back with us, nii-san." commanded Kurotsuchi. Deidara couldn't let himself be captured by them. He wouldn't let himself go back to a place that scorned his art.

"Nah," replied Deidara. "I don't think so. C2!" On command, the dragon launched a sculpture at the cliffside before it fell into the water. The cliffside shattered from the resulting explosion. Kurotsuchi lost her balance and fell into the ravine below, as did the bound Deidara. The shock wave caused the clay clones to release their captives as they were crushed under the rubble.

"KUROTSUCHI!" called out the Tsuchikage as he tried to fly after her, but Akatsuchi stopped him with a golem as he grasped the cliff side for dear life.

"It's too dangerous! She'll be fine! I know it!" shouted Akatsuchi. The Stone village pair could only watch as the cliff collapsed into the ravine, along with Deidara and Kurotsuchi.

Sasori's attention was drawn to the collapsing cliff. The brief distraction allowed Kabuto to activate a chakra blade and slash at Sasori. Without turning his head or batting an eyelash, Sasori sent a stream of water from the holes on his palms(yeah, he could do that) into Kabuto's chest, knocking him back.

"Looks like Deidara got desperate." observed Sasori, calmly. Kabuto attempted to flee the unwinnable battle to join his master, but the bladed rope in Sasori's stomach compartment(he had that too) wrapped around his ankle and pulled him off his feet. "Where do you think you're going?" In an act of desperation, Kabuto opened a scroll at his belt, summoning ten walking corpses. Sasori mentally swapped out his hydro pump for his flamethrower. Flames erupted from his hands, melting the boy's minions. When the flames fully consumed the zombies, Sasori saw that Kabuto had ran away.

"Damn coward." snarled Sasori. He let his lips form a wicked grin as he turned to the girl in red. "You keep staring at me. Have we met?" Sasori climbed into his Hiruko and walked away from the bridge, leaving the pink girl frozen in terror. He knew that he had to locate his foolish partner, but he rather disliked swimming. With knowledge of where the river led, Sasori began his march to find Deidara.


	3. Chapter 3: Regret

Kurotsuchi awoke to the crashing of waves. When her eyes opened, her vision was a blur and she became aware of a searing headache. It was clear that she had a small concussion. She counted herself fortunate that she woke up at all. When she tried to get to her feet, she noticed that the ground was far more moist and soft than she expected. Her vision returned to her as she realized she was lying on top of Deidara. She let out a cry of embarrassment as she stumbled off of the unconscious man. Once her mind cleared and her heart stopped trying to burst from her chest, Kurotsuchi noticed that he was no longer encased in her Quicklime.

"It must have broken in the fall..." Kurotsuchi whispered to herself. Alarm overtook her as she realized that Deidara's breaths were strained. She placed her hand on his chest to learn he had several broken ribs. _Wait, why do I care? _Kurotsuchi thought to herself. _He's a rogue ninja. Letting him die would be better for everyone. _Even as she thought this, however, she was undoing his coat and pulling out bandages from her hip pouch. She felt herself get warmer when she began to patch up her former brother, but shook it off and focused on her task. After a few minutes, her job was completed. She went to go move him, but became incredibly dizzy and fell back, not yet recovered from her head injury.

"It's probably best if you don't move." Sasori calmly approached the girl. Kurotsuchi tried to ready herself, but found no strength and fell down again. Sasori stepped out of Hiruko and extended the cable in his stomach to wrap around Kurotsuchi. He cut the cord after she was tightly bound. "It's best to keep you bound for now." He walked over to Deidara and proceeded to kick his side.

"What're you doing?!" asked Kurotsuchi. "He's injured!"

"I don't like waiting." replied Sasori as he stomped on Deidara's chest. Deidara let out a cry of pain and snapped awake.

"What the hell was that for, Sasori?!" shouted Deidara. "Are you trying to kill me?! Hmm?!"

"You know I hate waiting. Now get up. We have a long ways to go." Sasori returned to Hiruko once again.

"Alright, alright." Deidara got to his feet with great difficulty, but was soon moving well enough. "What about her?" he asked, pointing to Kurotsuchi.

"We take her with us. She's leverage against the Stone." Deidara nods to his partner and summons a bird. The bird grabs Kurotsuchi in it's talons as Deidara hopped onto it's back, obviously in too much pain to walk.

"Put me down!" called Kurotsuchi. "Let me go, nii-san!"

"Sorry, but I can't." replied Deidara, with no remorse.

"Do you know her?" asked Sasori as they began traveling.

"She's an old friend from before." Kurotsuchi looked up to see Deidara's face lose his signature smirk, replacing it with a look of anger. She felt scared to be the captive of someone who must've hated her for so long.

Night fell quickly as the pair continued their journey. The two set up camp in a clearing surrounded by trees.

"You take first watch," replied Sasori. "I need to report what's happened to the rest."

"Leave it to me, hmm." replied Deidara. Sasori quickly took to a meditative state that meant he was currently conversing with the rest of the Akatsuki through a holographic projection. Minutes became hours as Sasori remained in the meditative trance. Deidara began poking at the camp fire out of boredom. Kurotsuchi's voice broke the silence.

"Why did you leave, nii-san?" the question surprised Deidara a little. He didn't expect her to ask.

"None of you bastards accepted me. You forced me out!" Deidara found himself shouting, although he didn't mean to. For the first time, he truly felt how angry he was at his former village. He despised them all. The very man he trained under kicked him out of his home as soon as he could. His own friends hadn't defended him. "I tried to help people, I tried to save you, and all I get is the boot, hmm!"

"Then why didn't you try to talk to us?! Why didn't you try and clear your name?!" Kurotsuchi was shouting back. But in contrast to Deidara's rage, he sensed some other emotion within her words. Were they concern? _That can't be, _he thought. _Stone village hates me... they wouldn't be concerned about me, hmm!_

"Like that would've made any difference! You know as well as I do that Onoki would have just threw me in prison!" shouted Deidara. Kurotsuchi knew that there was no point in trying to defend her grandfather. She knew full well that he would've done it. She felt sorrow well up inside her again. It hurt to think that he blamed her for his expulsion from the village, but supposed it was justified. Maybe she could've tried harder to help him.

"Have I answered all you questions yet?" asked Deidara, venom dripping from his voice.

"Y-yes..." muttered Kurotsuchi, crushed.

"Finally, hmm!" Kurotsuchi tried as hard as she could to keep her sobs silent. _I'm sorry, nii-san... _she mentally apologized, but it was more of a silent plea. A plea that he'd stop hating her so. _I'm so very sorry..._

Sasori's eyes finally opened after what seemed like ages. Deidara silently thanked god(if there is one, cause he's sure as hell not supporting Hidan's warped religion) that he could finally get some sleep.

"Finally. For a guy who hates making people wait, you sure took your time."

"Hidan and Kakuzu captured the Two-Tails. We had to seal it." Deidara was a little shocked that the most defective partnership in the entire Akatsuki had actually managed to catch a Jinchuriki.

"You should've told me. I could've helped."

"There was no need. Zetsu found a new recruit." Another shocking development.

"A new member? Who?"

"He wore a mask. He called himself Tobi. He seems no smarter than Hidan, unfortunately."

"Damn. What a shame. Well, I'm heading to sleep. Watch Kurotsuchi, will ya?"

"Got it. Like I need to sleep?" Deidara lied on his back and observed the stars. _The sky isn't too different from back then, is it?_ he thought to himself. He couldn't help but think back to the times when he'd watch the stars with his team. How he and Kurotsuchi would see who could find the most constellations first. _"There's the big dipper!" _it'd always start. Deidara could hear Kurotsuchi sleeping softly in the darkness. He wondered if he should apologize, but quickly dismissed the idea as foolish. He's part of the Akatsuki now. That part of his life was behind him, right?

The partners continued their long trek with their prisoner in tow once the sun rose. As the journey continued, news of Orochimaru's death reached their ears from their Akatsuki associates. The lack of concern throughout the organization amused Deidara to no end. After a couple days, the group happened upon a small town on their way.

"Put your coat in the scroll." commanded Sasori as he put Hiruko and his cloak into a scroll of summoning. "We don't want to draw attention while I gather supplies."

"Gonna be kinda hard to do with your puppet body." Deidara smirked. "How are you gonna avoid suspicion like that, hmm?" Sasori actually seemed to be at a loss for once. He looked around, and his eyes finally settle on Kurotsuchi.

"Give me your shirt." he commanded, pointing a finger at her. Deidara barely contained his laughter, letting a snicker escape here and there. Kurotsuchi simply stood there, mouth agape in confusion.

"Wh-why would I give you my shirt?!"

"As you can obviously see," Sasori began, gesturing to himself. "I am a puppet. It would clearly draw suspicion if they saw me like this, as would it if I approached in Hiruko or my cloak. Your shirt should fit fine, so give it to me." Kurotsuchi rapidly shook her head, now died crimson from embarrassment.

"I-I can't!" cries Kurotsuchi. Sasori let out a sigh and began to remove her vest and shirt manually. "H-hey! No! S-stop it, pervert!" Kurotsuchi's desperate cries did nothing to help her, and she was eventually left covering her chest with her arms as Sasori puts on her shirt.

"You could stand to wear more than just nets under this." commented Sasori.

"My, how you've grown Kurotsuchi." mused Deidara. A crimson-faced Kurotsuchi only growled at them as she quickly put her vest back on. "And, as much as I want to see this little excursion fail," Deidara remarked, observing Sasori's one bare mannequin-like arm where Kurotsuchi's shirt lacked a sleeve, "I think I'll scout ahead."

"Fine." sighed Sasori. "Then I'll take the girl." Sasori re-binded Kurotsuchi's arms and proceeded into the town with her in tow. Deidara molded an eagle out of clay and flew off in the direction of their next destination. As he flew, however, a lone figure piqued his interest. Upon closer observation, Deidara recognized him instantly as Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha's brother, Orochimaru's murderer, and a rogue from Konoha. He wore a thick black cloak over a white samurai-esque shirt, a dark purple waist wrap held up by a lighter purple rope-belt, black pants, and sandals. He was a wielder of the Sharingan, a powerful eye that could mimic any opponent's jutsu as long as it was within the user's physical capabilities. What Deidara truly hated about it, however, was it's genjutsu. The eye amplified the user's genjutsu prowess, and Itachi Uchiha had used it to humiliate Deidara when he was recruited. Oh, how he longed to rid the world of it!

Deidara charged the boy with his clay bird. He quickly leapt off and detonated it with a "Ha!" Deidara stood triumphant until the smoke cleared, revealing the Sasuke had guarded against the explosion by summoning a snake. The serpent quickly disintegrated around him as Sasuke shot Deidara a look that simply asked _Really? _The boy, upon seeing the design on Deidara's cloak, was the first to speak. "Where's Itachi Uchiha?"

"Huh?" asked Deidara in bafflement. The haste and bluntness of his question caught Deidara by surprise. He didn't even ask Deidara's name. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his crimson Sharingan glared at Deidara.

"Tell me, and I'll let you go." The arrogance in his declaration infuriated Deidara. How could he think he was the superior one here?!

"Heh, you really are Itachi's brother." replied Deidara. "Your glare is the same as his." Sasuke's stare produced even more hostility than before. "You're both nothing but fools blessed with good genes, hmm!" Deidara made no attempt to mask the malice in his stare as he quickly shoved his hands into his pouches, absorbing clay into the mouths on his palms. _First, _thought Deidara, _I'll observe his movements with C1. _His hands quickly modeled several small clay spiders. He quickly leapt into a nearby tree and threw them at Sasuke. With a flourish, the Uchiha cloaked his hand in electricity, the legendary jutsu Chidori, and fired several small needles at the spiders, blowing them away and pinning them to the ground and trees. Deidara attempted to detonate them, but they never exploded. _What the hell?!_

In his moment of confusion, Sasuke managed to get behind him, slashing with his sword. Deidara quickly molded another spider and tossed it back at him. "Ha!" shouts Deidara as the spider detonates. Deidara leapt from the blast range at the last second, as did Sasuke. Deidara's foe glared back at him, unfazed. _Good thing I managed to avoid him... _thought Deidara. He quickly absorbed a large quantity of clay from his pouches. _Then let's see if he like this! _From his hands erupts a large stream of clay, from which formed two large humanoid(but only barely) structures. "I'll play with you a bit more, hmm!" Deidara called out. The two blobs raced forward towards the Uchiha.

"So you send child's play my way?" asked the boy. He raised his sword and slashed at one of the structure's legs. "So foolish." Deidara smiled as his sword caught in the dense clay. Caught by surprise, Sasuke was forced into the defensive, dodging the clumsy attacks and countering with his own taijutsu. He quickly charged a chidori in his left hand and pierced through an attacking sculpture, supposedly killing it. Deidara manipulated the fallen form into two smaller forms and attacked Sasuke once again.

"Haha!" laughed Deidara, "It's not over yet!" Sasuke quickly charged another chidori and grabbed his sword, sending the electric current through the steel implement and cut through the attacking golem. No matter how many times he cut through them, however, two more forms would emerge from the fallen blobs and attack him. The sight before Deidara resembled a violent dance. "I guess it's about time..." Deidara quickly weaved his hand signs, and detonated one of the clay bodies. Sasuke avoided the explosion and retreated into the forest.

"You're not getting away!" shouted Deidara as he sent more of the bodies at him. They each exploded with wild abandon, shattering the trees they fell near, but still missing Sasuke. Eventually, the sheer numbers overwhelmed Sasuke's skill at running away and the remaining sculptures latched onto his body. Once Sasuke was completely enveloped in clay, Deidara detonated them. The blast sent a large shockwave throughout the valley.

"How's that?!" asked Deidara in a triumphant tone. A log flies out of the smoke, charred from the explosion. _Substitution jutsu, eh? _thought Deidara, surprised at Sasuke's quick thinking. Sasuke lands a few feet behind the log moments after. _I suppose this calls for C2. _Deidara quickly begins to mold his large reptilian creation. With a poof, Deidara's C2 dragon came to life. He quickly leapt onto the beast's head, confident as he looked at Sasuke's expression. Even he had to marvel at Deidara's artwork. Sasuke's face did in fact flinch, the first sign of emotion Deidara had observed all fight. He took it as a victory.

"You think your Pop Art will stop me?" asked the black-haired boy as he raced towards his opponent.

"Pop is dead!" replied Deidara. "My art is Superflat!" the dragon absorbed part of it's tail and launched a dragon at the charging Uchiha. Sasuke side-stepped to avoid the assault, but the dragon swerved around and followed him. Its pace allowed it to swiftly catch up with the boy as it detonated. Sasuke barely braced himself from the impact in time. The C2 dragon took to the air as Sasuke was distracted. The Uchiha races after it, charging a chidori in his left hand. From the current emerges a large spike of electricity. The "chidori spear," however, stops short of the dragon's foot. "Looks like I'm out of your range!" called out Deidara.

Deidara forces the C2 to absorb two parts of it's tail. A larger dragon than before blasts from C2's jaws. As Sasuke evades the initial strike, a smaller dragon emerges from the projectile's body and seems to impact Sasuke with it's explosion. _Did I get him? _inquired Deidara, mentally.

From the smoking crater emerged something that was no longer human. The abomination had gray, snake-like skin and long, pale blue hair. Large wings in the shape of hands extended from his back. Sasuke Uchiha's form had changed, and he looked rather uninjured.


	4. Chapter 4: Hebi

*Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait. I had a little trouble with inspiration. I'll try to upload more frequently.*

Sasori, with crafting materials safely stored and Kurotsuchi in tow, began his exit from the small village when the very earth began to shake. The villagers all scrambled for cover. Sasori simply stood amidst the chaos. From the noise in the distance, Sasori could only assume Deidara _wasn't _simply scouting ahead.

"It seems Deidara got into another fight..." sighed Sasori. "He needs to learn to have better self-restraint."

"Shouldn't we go look for him?!" asked Kurotsuchi, frantically. Sasori let out a wry smirk.

"That was an amazing change of pace. What happened to disliking him?" Kurotsuchi became as red as Sasori's hair and rapidly turned away from him.

"W-well, I..." Kurotsuchi began. Sasori made a sign to be silent and quickly moved behind a building. Kurotsuchi followed, although she was getting rather annoyed with the frequency of forced silence. Three people were approaching the exit of the village. Two of them seemed to be arguing, while the other simply followed their lead.

"... I don't want my Sasuke getting hurt, dumbass!" shouted an asymmetrically crimson haired girl. She had to constantly readjust her glasses to keep them from falling off during her shouts of rage. The boy she was arguing with seemed to be taking the conversation in stride, smiling an amused, shark-like grin that reminded Sasori of Kisame Hoshigaki. He noted that he should be careful around that one. He had incredibly pale blue hair and violet eyes.

"Look," began the boy, "I don't want him getting killed either, but going towards that blast probably isn't the best idea." Sasori quickly pieced two and two together: These three were associates of Deidara's enemy.

"That quake just now was from the fight. Sasuke may need our help." The orange haired shadow finally spoke up. He towered over his companions. So much so that his clothing consisted of a violet curtain draped over his shoulders.

"Fine," sighed the shark boy. "Let's just get a move on." Sasori bit his lip(it tasted of mahogany). Those three could cause unnecessary trouble. It would be best to dispose of them here. Sasori quickly undid his scroll, summoned his cloak, and went out to greet his opponents. With this many people, he'd rather not risk Hiruko's safety.

"Well met, fellow shinobi." said Sasori with a flourish of his arms.

"The hell's with this guy?!" asked the shark boy.

"Be careful Suigetsu, Jugo," warned the girl. "That cloak means he's from the Akatsuki. He probably knows where Itachi is."

"Itachi Uchiha? So my comrade really is engaging Sasuke Uchiha. I had a hunch." The two boys adopted fighting stances. The shark boy, who Sasori could only assume was Suigetsu, drew a large sword from a holster on his back. It resembled a butcher knife more than a sword. "Now how did you come into possession of the Executioner's Blade?" Sasori wasn't worried. The blade was worthless against his wooden frame. It was once used by Zabuza Momochi, and it absorbed blood to heal itself should it get damaged. Suigetsu prepared to rush Sasori, when his comrade called out to him.

"No, dumbass! There's something off about him!" cried the girl.

"What do you mean, Karin? He looks unarmed." inquired Suigetsu.

"I only sense chakra in his chest. Everywhere else is... lifeless..." Sasori made a mental note to eliminate "Karin" first. Her sensory abilities were impressive, and could prove troublesome. It's a shame that he lost the 3rd Kazekage against his grandmother. This would already be over if he hadn't. Sasori drew a blade from a compartment on his arm and adopted a fighting stance. He let out a sly smirk, taunting the boys into charging. The boy, Jugo, had lost all his composure from earlier. His skin had turned gray on his right side, and he became more akin to a raging bull emotion wise than a human.

"Kill! Crush! Destroy! AHAHAHA!" cried out the psychopathic Jugo. Sasori easily dodged his clumsy strike and landed on Suigetsu's sword. An explosive laced kunai flew through the air towards Sasori. Sasori simply ducked under it as it created a large hole in a house's side. Karin let out a growl as her plan failed.

Kurotsuchi simply watched as her captor battled three opponents. She wondered why she hadn't run. Her legs were free. She could make it. But, as she considered it, she realized that Deidara and Sasori hadn't exactly treated her like a prisoner. Granted, the bound arms were annoying, but that was the extent of it. They allowed her a remarkable amount of freedom for a captive. She actually found herself routing for these Akatsuki members in their respective fights. _Idiot, _she thought to herself. _You shouldn't think of your enemy this way! _Were these feelings of hers brought from reuniting with Deidara? Was her former bond with him really that important to her?

Kurotsuchi was snapped out of her thoughts when the building next to her broke apart. The orange-haired behemoth had missed Sasori again and had shattered the building with a transformed hand. It became large, grey, and spiked, and could fire chakra from his elbow to increase the force. Whoever he was, he wasn't human. His crazed eyes fell on Kurotsuchi and he let out a crazed roar as he assaulted the captive girl. Kurotsuchi barely avoided the attack. Thinking she was in the clear, Kurotsuchi was caught off guard when Jugo's arm extended, grabbing her and forcing her into the ground. Kurotsuchi let out a small cry as blood spat out of her mouth. She could feel several ribs break under the pressure. Jugo raised another hand to finish her, but Sasori landed on top of Jugo, forcing him back with chakra strings he managed to attach. Like a simple marionet, Jugo was manipulated to attack his allies by the puppet master.

"Jugo, the hell are you doing?!" shouted Suigetsu.

"Our enemy's a puppet master!" Karin analyzed. "He's manipulating Jugo with chakra threads..." While the girl may have been smart, she wasn't agile. Jugo's fist was forced into her stomach, causing her to lose consciousness immediately. Sasori turned to his last opponent.

"And then there was one."

The winged Sasuke proceeded to fly towards Deidara with the speed of a hawk after it's prey. The familiar chirping of his chidori sounded as it appeared in his hand. Deidara couldn't maneuver the C2 in time, so he proceeded to generate a clay clone from the dragon's back. He swiftly sunk into the clay as Sasuke's chidori pierced the clone. Deidara shot up from under him, grabbing his ankle.

"I've got you, Uchiha!" As he muttered those words, Deidara's head began to ache. Realizing he was under a genjutsu, Deidara regulated his chakra flow to disperse the attack. The headache from the genjutsu cleared as Deidara realized Sasuke hadn't moved from his original spot at all. Angry that he was made a fool of, Deidara began firing more clay wyverns at the boy. With a lightning cloaked sword, Sasuke cut through them, disabling their detonation. With a single beat of his wings, the hawk-like Sasuke leapt at Deidara once again. Out of options, Deidara leapt off C2 and detonated it. A wave of electricity, a "Chidori Stream," sheltered Sasuke from the explosion. _Damn it! _Thought Deidara, furiously. _I have to find a way around that electricity... _An idea struck him. He forced his hands into his pockets, gathering as much clay as he could. Charging his chakra level to C3, Deidara created a large clay clone of himself. After swiftly weaving his hand signs and retreating a safe distance, Deidara detonated the clay. From the blast, emerged molecular explosives. Although Sasuke was able to dodge the initial explosion, the small explosives managed to enter his body through the air.

"What was that supposed to do?" asked Sasuke. Deidara, enraged by this boy's arrogance, never thought twice about detonating those explosives. Sasuke's very body began to dissolve as the millions of explosives detonated within his body. Yet, before he could rejoice, Deidara felt the familiar headache of genjutsu.

"AGAIN?!" cried out Deidara in a fit of frustration.

Sasori manipulated Jugo into charging his shark-like opponent. Suigetsu let out a small smirk as his body exploded into water as Jugo's fist connected.

"What the hell..?" Sasori was genuinely surprised. In all of his years, he had never seen a kekkei genki like this.

"Oh no," snarked Suigetsu. "You seem to have minorly inconvenienced me." He extended his forefinger and raised his thumb, making his hand resemble a gun. "Bang." A small ball of water fires from his fingertip at alarming speed, catching Sasori off guard. The Water Bullet hits Sasori in the stomach with enough force to knock him off Jugo. The berserker, now freed, marches towards the stunned Sasori. Suddenly, another tremor shakes through the area as a larger explosion detonates in the distance. Sasori let out a growl as he realized Deidara needed his help. He leapt back and grabbed the injured Kurotsuchi, and prepared to retreat. These children were skilled indeed, and Sasori had no time for them. He had to stop Deidara before he used C0.

"Where are you going?!" shouted Jugo as he appeared behind Sasori with incredible speed. "Running away?! No one gets away!"

"Shit!" shouted Sasori as his chest was impacted by his fist. Sasori and Kurotsuchi went tumbling across the road as the impact nearly caved Sasori's chest in. _I can't fight while protecting this girl... _thought Sasori, angrily.

"Time to finish this!" shouted Suigetsu as he made several hand signs. "Water Dragon Jutsu!" from his right arm fires a large serpentine dragon made of water. Sasori quickly activates his flamethrower and fires it at the dragon. The intense heat causes the dragon to evaporate and mist overtakes the area. _Perfect. _thought Sasori as he quickly gathered up the unconscious Kurotsuchi and began moving towards Deidara's position, leaving his opponents behind.

The genjutsu dissolved as Sasuke appeared in front of Deidara, his fist impacting Deidara's nose. Deidara tumbled back from the force. He quickly regained himself, blood spurting from his broken nose. Sasuke was clearly exhausted. He was out of chakra from his uses of genjutsu and chidori. However, so was Deidara. He only had enough clay and chakra left for C0. _I guess it can't be helped... _Thought Deidara as he tore off his shirt, revealing his trump card: a mouth on his chest, sealed shut by stitches. His C0. If Deidara fed clay into the mouth, he himself would become a living bomb, destroying himself and everything around him. As Deidara began to undo the bindings, Sasuke activated the summoning circles on his wrists, bringing forth two shuriken. With perfect accuracy, Sasuke throws the shuriken into Deidara's pouches, cutting them open and spilling the clay all around him. As Deidara quickly tried to absorb it, Sasuke leapt on top of him, pinning him to the ground. "You lose." said the Uchiha as he delivered a swift punch to Deidara's face.

Sasori and Kurotsuchi arrived at the forest the explosions were heard from. The trees were bent and shattered. Craters lined the valley. Scorch marks from electric currents were all over the battlefield. Whoever Deidara had fought, it was his toughest opponent yet. In alarm, Kurotsuchi tried to run deeper into the forest, but her injuries restricted her to a slow limp. She and Sasori quickly combed the broken forest, but there was no sign of life anywhere. Deidara was gone.

"He's been captured, you say?" asked the masked figure.

"I saw it myself," White Zetsu confirmed. "Sasuke Uchiha managed to defeat Deidara and take him into his custody."

"It was a humiliating display." growled Black Zetsu.

"I suppose it can't be helped, then." sighed the masked man as he sat casually in his chair. "Kisame, eliminate Deidara before any information is leaked." The large man behind him gave a toothy grin.

"You always give me the dirty jobs, Madara. You sure know how to keep a man loyal." declared Kisame as he headed out towards Sasuke's whereabouts.

"Are you sure about this, Tobi?" asked White Zetsu. "With the elimination of Kakuzu and Hidan by the Nine-Tails, we're already down two members."

"Relax, Zetsu," mused Tobi. "Deidara wasn't necessary. He was only there to blow up. If he can't even do that, he must die before he gives out any information." The conversation was interrupted by a hologram appearing before Tobi. It was a silhouette of a man with spiked hair who carried the deadly Rinnegan, an ocular kekkei genki that was said to give him the power of the Sage of Six Paths. The man's voice boomed through the chamber, as if it was the voice of God himself.

"Madara, I have captured the six tails."

"Excellent, Pain. We shall begin extraction at once." The masked individual let a small grin appear. Everything was, more or less, going according to plan.


	5. Chapter 5: Samehada

Pain. That's all Deidara felt. His head hurt, his ears rang agonizingly. When he finally recovered enough strength to open his eyes, his vision was too blurry to make out any details of the world around him. He could only assume they were in a cave because of the damp air and stone floor. From the dripping sound outside, it appeared to be raining. At least he had a roof. Stubbornly, Deidara tried to get to his feet, but found his arms bound. He awkwardly squirmed his way to the cave wall, using it as leverage to sit upright. He immediately regretted it as pain rushed back into his head. His vision slowly returned to see a white-haired boy staring down at him with an expression that showed both amusement and superiority.

"Oi, Sasuke! Blondie's awake." Suigetsu shouted. Sasuke rose up from behind a stalagmite and approached his former foe with the same irritatingly bored expression he wore during the fight. His sharingan glowed a faint crimson in the dark cave, adding infinitely more dread than was already present.

"Where is Itachi?" Sasuke asked. He certainly didn't waste time Deidara noted.

"Li... Like I'll... tell you... hm!" Deidara's throat burned, but he refused to show the Uchiha any signs of weakness. Sasuke's expression twitched slightly. Apparently, their earlier battle had drawn his patience somewhat. Deidara's resistance was met with chidori senbon finding a place in his stomach. He let out a small grunt of agony.

"I'll ask again. Where. Is. ITACHI?" His brow began to resemble anger, and his sharingan glowed a bright red in the darkness.

"G... get bent..." Deidara grumbled. His remark was met with more chidori senbon, only this time into pressure points. This time, Deidara couldn't hold back his pain and let out a scream.  
"Where is he? I know you know. Give me the information and I'll let you go."  
"Sorry... pal... but they'd have my head... hm..."  
"Then why don't we have a compromise?" an unfamiliar voice to the Uchiha rang through the cave. A bolt of lightning illuminated the entrance to reveal a large man wielding an even greater sword. "I'll tell you Itachi's location, in exchange for the blonde kid there." Deidara's eyes widened in fear. He was going to die. There was no way to avoid it. Not HIM. Oh god, not _HIM._

"Deal." Sasuke agreed with no resistance. "Now... tell me where Itachi is."

"He's waiting for you. In the western Uchiha hideout."

"So now he seeks to defile our grounds? I'm going right now." Sasuke leapt out of the cave with alarming speed. Deidara expected his lackeys to follow him, but the orange-haired giant and the girl made no intention of leaving the back of the chamber. If it was fear or orders was anyone's guess. Suigetsu, however, had a wicked grin on his face.

"You... Kisame-senpai..."

"Oh?" A smile of recognition played on the shark-man's face. "Why if it isn't the remaining Hozuki brother. Who'd have guessed I'd run into you. You wouldn't be interested in fighting me, would you?"

"But I'm afraid I am," Suigetsu retorted. "You're giving me Samehada today!"

"Can this wait a moment?" asked Kisame. "I have a former ally I must dispose of."

"H-hey!" shouted Deidara. "I told them nothing! YOU'RE the one who ratted him out! Hm!"

"Foolish child. Itachi wanted this. The time to face his little brother is nigh. And Leader wishes you disposed of... because you no longer matter."

"WHAT?! I don't matter?!"

"Nope. You're pathetic. Your abilities come in handy sometimes, but it's been mostly Sasori pulling you along. My apologies..." Kisame brandished his wicked blade. "But it seems you will feed Samehada. I hate to do this, but I don't disobey orders."

Sasori and Kurotsuchi sprinted through the forest in the direction of a blood trail left by either Sasuke or Deidara.

"Hurry," spoke Sasori calmly. "If we take too long, the storm will wash away our trail." He and Kurotsuchi sped up, when a shadow dashed by them. Time seemed to slow as Sasori and Sasuke locked glares. Neither of their paces slowed. At the moment, recovering his partner was more important to the puppet master. Sasori hated expending resources almost as much as wasting time.

"Look!" cried out Kurotsuchi as a cave mouth began to peak out in-between the thick forest. "Deidara-nii must be in there!" Kurotsuchi and Sasori burst into the cave as Kisame swung Samehada in a vertical arc towards Deidara. Deidara only barely managed to dodge, however his ponytail was cut cleanly from his head. His hair fell over his face as he retreated a couple feet in terror.

"Kisame... what are you doing?" Sasori asked.

"Sasori... pleasure seeing you here. I got orders from the Higher-Ups. Deidara's outlived his expiration date."

"But why? Deidara is still a member of the Akatsuki. It's not like Pain to eliminate members."

"Is that concern I sense in your voice, Sasori?" The comment caught Sasori off guard. Sasori shook it off and raised his flamethrower-palm.

"Kisame... go back, or it will end for you."

"Hmph. So you see Deidara as an ally, hm? Fine. If you fight with him, you die with him. It makes no real difference to me." The two members of Akatsuki took a stance and prepared themselves for battle.

"Oi! Don't leave me out of this!" Suigetsu shouted as he drew the Executioner's Blade. Kurotsuchi quickly moved to Deidara's side.

"Kurotsuchi... get out of here. Run. They'll kill you!"

"I'm not leaving you Deidara-nii... not again..." The remark caught Deidara by surprise. Did she still see him as a friend? The three combatants rushed forward at lightning speed. Samehada was deflected off the Executioner's Blade as flames erupted from Sasori's hands at his two opponents. Suigetsu quickly changed his body to water state, causing the flame to fizzle and a little mist to appear. Kisame leapt over the flame, using the jump to attack at Deidara.

"Oh no you don't!" Kurotsuchi shouted as she weaved handsigns. Her Quicklime jutsu quickly erupted from her mouth at Kisame. With a simple cut, Kisame cleared the barrier. However, Kurotsuchi was already upon him, landing a swift, stone-cased punch to Kisame's jaw. Kisame slid backwards, stunned that the girl had landed a hit.

"It seems I underestimated you..." growled Kisame as Samehada tore through the bandages encasing it. The tip of the blade extended into a shark-like grin, and the shark fins that made up the blade sharpened. Sasori leapt up behind him, drawing his own arm-blade. He was swatted away before he could attack. Kurotsuchi attempted to rush him, but was knocked back with a swift kick to her gut. At this moment, Jugo joined the fray, striking with his transformed fist. Kisame easily avoided the blow, striking him from behind afterwards. The berserker tumbled backwards and charged again. As the intense combat ensued, Suigetsu quietly sunk into a puddle and crept up on Kisame.

"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb!" Kisame launched the liquified Suigetsu at the charging Jugo, knocking him back.

"Wha?!" exclaimed Suigetsu as he was launched into Jugo's chest. Kurotsuchi signed her own jutsu as spikes of earth raced towards Kisame, who then leapt over the assault and swung his sword down at Kurotsuchi with incredible force. Kurotsuchi couldn't possibly move in time, and fear burrowed itself deep into her breast, for she knew it.

Blood flew as Samehada connected. Deidara crashed into a wall, his back severely wounded from the sword strike. Kurotsuchi's eyes widened in shock and horror.

"DEIDARA-NII!" she cried as she rushed over to him. Blood flew from Deidara's mouth, and his breathing became heavy.

"Heh... my legs moved on their own..." His face cringed in pain as the entire cave shook from Kisame slamming Sasori through the wall. The Iwagakure pair could see clearly that this was a losing battle the way things were going. However, the red-haired girl rushed to Deidara's side.

"Hurry up and bite me!" shouted Karin. Deidara shot her a confused look, but she forced his jaw down on her arm. She let out a moan of pleasure as her chakra transferred into Deidara, miraculously healing him.

"You... healed him..?" asked Kurotsuchi in shock. Jugo and Suigetsu quickly joined the trio as Sasori kept Kisame at bay with fire attacks. "But... why? Aren't we your enemy?"

"Look," began Karin. "This won't end well for any of us if we don't work together. We need your help finishing what this dipshit started."

"I take offense to that!" shouted Suigetsu. "But... she has a point, though I loathe to admit it..." Suigetsu cut Deidara's bindings and helped him to his feet.

"Fine, hmm." Deidara muttered. "We'll help you this once. But... I don't have any clay."

"Hmph. Sasuke had us recover it." Karin said, handing Deidara a pouch of clay. "He thought it could be useful at one point, and he was right as always."

Sasori parried Kisame's quick and brutal strikes. The shark-man's tenacity was overwhelming. Eventually, the pressure of the blows became too much and Sasori's left arm shattered. Sasori leapt back, switching his flamethrower to hydro pump-mode and launched the stream at the shark man. Kisame countered with a Shark Bomb, giving him enough time to rush Sasori, his blade posed for the kill. Suddenly, an explosion sent Kisame into the wall, as two more birds made of explosive clay flew at him. Kisame sliced through the birds as Kurotsuchi came up from his blind spot, punching him through the wall. Kisame slumped to his feet and smiled.

"You know what I am, right? I am a water-style user. And you just knocked me into a rainstorm." The rain falling around him quickly molded into a dragon larger than the entire cave(or what was left of it).

"Oh god..." gasped Kurotsuchi. "What... how are we gonna beat that?"

"We need to retreat." Declared Sasori. "We can't fight him in the rain." As the teams began their retreat, Kisame shot the dragon forward. It would surely catch them. _Am I... gonna die..? _Thought Deidara. _Is this the end..?_

The sound of chirping birds echoes through the night sky as a shadow cut through the dragon with a fist cloaked in lightning. A stream of lightning shot forth from the figure, sending Kisame to his knees, the fatigue from the battle finally wearing him down.

"Did you honestly think I'd leave these losers so easily?" asked Sasuke standing above the wounded Kisame. "They can't do anything without me."

"Tch... Looks like you live for now... But rest assured... next time, I won't be playing around with my food." Realizing he couldn't win in his current state, Kisame leapt back into the forest, disappearing into the night.

Sasuke turned towards Deidara and his allies. "Be thankful that I saved your hides."

Deidara growled to himself, reluctant to thank an Uchiha.

"T-Thanks..." mumbled Deidara.

"I'll take it. Now, as I see it, you three have two choices. You're clearly not welcome in the Akatsuki anymore. So, you could go your separate ways... or join my team, Hebi."

"Why the hell would we join you?!" Deidara shouted. "I haven't forgotten what you did to me!"

"It was a fight YOU started, dumbass." Sasuke sighed. "Besides, look at it this way: You're being hunted. And if five people couldn't kill one man, what makes you think you three alone would do any better."

"Why exactly do you WANT us to join you?" Sasori inquired.

"The Akatsuki attacked and made fools of my team," Sasuke replied. "Therefore, they made a fool of me. Plus, they work with Itachi. I want them taken down, but need more numbers to do it." Sasori turned towards his partner.

"We really have no choice. Even I am no match for Kisame."

"Sigh... fine. We'll work with you!" Deidara agreed reluctantly. "But only to save our own skin! Hmm!"

"What about her?" asked Suigetsu. "That chick fought Kisame too, so she's in danger. Hell, she was one of the only ones to HIT him."

"The offer is open to her as well." Sasuke replied.

"Well, what are you gonna do?" asked Sasori. "Go back to Iwagakure, or come with us?"

"... I'm coming with you!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed. "I've already come this far with you and nii-san. I... I don't know if I want to turn back."

"Heh. Knew you had a thing for him." snarked Sasori. Both Deidara and Kurotsuchi's faces became a bright shade of red.

The team Hebi: Sasuke, Deidara, Sasori, Suigetsu, Kurotsuchi, Karin, and Jugo stood atop the cave, their pure black cloaks blowing in the wind. Sasuke pointed westward.

"That is where we're going. To find and eliminate Itachi Uchiha. However, we also need more allies for after I kill him."

"As much as I hate to recommend this..." Sasori sighed. "I believe... Hidan... is still alive..." Deidara's expression soured.

"HIM?! You can't be serious! The guy is unpredictable!"

"A member is a member. If he can fight, he is welcome on our team." Sasuke declared. "Where is he?"

"Last we knew," began Deidara. "Buried in the Nara Forest in Konoha."

"At least its on the way. Hebi: Move out!" The seven cloaked shinobi leapt off the cave towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves, disappearing into the stormy night.


End file.
